


It Takes a Second to Birth Eternity

by Aondeug



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Immortal Byleth, Poetry, Post-Silver Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24261478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aondeug/pseuds/Aondeug
Summary: Immortality is an eternity to regret the choices one made. It's a truth Byleth Eisner knows very well. One that cuts very deep on a trip to a museum exhibit about the Reunification of Fódlan.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	It Takes a Second to Birth Eternity

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by ["It's lovely to see you again..."](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/622153) by angerykacchan. 



How long must the years run  
Before the hours seem like minutes?  
Not long enough to cut the  
Faces from memories of  
A forever ago, a war, those faces  
That you seek out again  
In proxy of paint and marble,  
In museum exhibits, many  
Halls and walls of replicas,   
A genuine article here, there,  
That speak of your early days  
When you stepped from the fog  
Of a heartless haze, so grey,  
Before thought and feeling,  
You walk through exhibit halls  
Ever searching for those faces  
Of a forever ago, your friends  
So long passed away now,  
Some by your hand, some by age,  
And always you find a face  
Done in inks or pastels of  
One from so long ago, the war,  
Were they notable enough and  
So many weren’t, never will be,  
But she always will be enough.

How long must the years run  
Before you stop searching for it?  
For her, that face cold, cruel,  
That stared you down then in  
The tower so long ago where  
You two had stood together and  
Talked of first loves and more,   
You catch a sight from the corner  
Of your eye and right there is  
That face, carved marble, gazing  
Out cold and lifeless, the face  
Of history and time, but not  
The face of her as you knew her,  
Full of little laughs and smiles,  
A girl hardly eighteen turned  
Emperor, revolutionary, warlord  
Standing at the head of an army  
That stood against you, a face  
Twenty-three and cold, cruel,  
The face of one alone against  
The whole of the world, a face  
Born of a moment’s hesitation,  
From a belief born in the heat  
Of betrayal, confusion, a choice  
You had only a second to make  
That carved out one thousand years  
Of history and a thousand yet more.

How long must the years run  
Before you stop regretting that choice?  
You stop and stare and wonder  
What might it have been like  
If you’d pointed your sword at  
The church instead and your back  
At her whom you loved above  
All others, your first true friend  
Who cleared away the fog that  
Held you down, deep grey, ashen,  
A cold without thought or feeling,  
You look at it, at her, that face  
Carved in stone, familiar, loved,  
Treasured above all and you  
Say out loud for all to hear,  
“They never get your nose right!”  
With a little laugh to hide  
The regret that mounts again  
At the sight of it, at her, the face  
That looked up at you yearning  
For a world with you right there  
At her side against the whole world.

How long must the years run  
Before you fall out of love?


End file.
